TinyZorin

TinyZorin

A beginner's guide with stuff and hacks to help you optimise your freshly installed ZorinOS and improve your Linux desktop experience.

You're encouraged to follow, support and track progress made to this guide via my Twitter Feed.

Get Started

First off, I'll assume you're yet to install ZorinOS.

After Installation

Congratulations, you're a Linux user.

Navigate around to see if your keyboard, trackpad, time & date, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi etc. are working properly and get familiar with your new desktop environment and gestures.

Locate an application called Terminal, open it and paste these commands;

Update All Packages

sudo apt update + enter to check for updates
sudo apt upgrade + enter to apply the updates
sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall + enter to install proprietary drivers

Update GPU Drivers (Intel & AMD)

sudo apt install mesa-utils + enter This is crucial for rendering graphics on Linux systems.
sudo apt update + enter to check for updates.
sudo apt upgrade + enter to apply the updates.

Update GPU Drivers (Nvidia)

sudo apt update + enter to check for updates.
sudo apt install ubuntu-drivers-common + enter to install the ubuntu-drivers-common package.
sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall + enter to automatically detect and install recommended proprietary drivers for your hardware.

System Optimisation

Settings to Improve performance, efficiency, and overall functions of your computer.

Install Ubuntu Restricted Extras

sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras + enter
This enables support for a wide range of multimedia formats and proprietary tools like audio and video codecs, Adobe Flash Plugin, Unrar and GStreamer Plugins on your computer.

Reduce Boot Time

sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager-wait-online.service + enter
This disables the network wait service, which can slow down boot times.

Enable Zswap

echo "zswap.enabled=1" | sudo tee -a /etc/default/grub && sudo update-grub + enter
This helps improve performance on systems with limited RAM.

Enable Fractional Scaling (for High-DPI Displays)

gsettings set org.gnome.mutter experimental-features "['scale-monitor-framebuffer']" + enter
After enabling fractional scaling, you can set the scale factor. This can be done through the Settings GUI;
Open "Settings" from the application menu.
Go to "Displays."
Under the "Scale" option, you should now see fractional values available (e.g., 125%, 150%, etc.).

Install Apps & Packages

ZorinOS comes with a built-in Software Store and here are packages with beautiful UIs that I use and recommend;

Firefox

A minimalist, lightweight open-source browser based on FireFox with a vertical tab bar.
Download from the software store.

Keypunch

A minimalist app to practise and improve your typing skills.
Download from the software store.

Diodon

A simple clipboard manager
Download from the software store.

Firefox Extensions

Extensions designed to provide additional features to enhance your browsing experience for Firefox;

Bitwarden

Simple, secure, open-source password manager
Add to Firefox

uBlock Origin

Open-source ads and trackers blocker
Add to Firefox

ClearURLs

This automatically removes tracking elements from URLs to enhance privacy.
Add to Firefox

Adaptive Tab Bar Colour

An add-on that dynamically changes the colour of your tab bar to match the colour scheme of the website you are viewing.
Add to Firefox